The present invention relates to peripherals for gaming machines, ticket dispensing terminals and the like, and more particularly to a hot disconnect peripheral such as a sliding drawer printer.
Sliding drawer printers are particularly well suited for use in gaming machines, vending machines, point-of-sale (POS) terminals, transportation and entertainment ticket machines, and the like.
Sliding drawer printers are useful in a variety of applications. One such application is to print coded tickets or vouchers used in lottery terminals, slot machines and other self-service wagering apparatus.
Various printer systems have been proposed for use in self-service terminals, such as for cashless gaming systems used, e.g., at casinos and racetracks. In such systems, a ticket (alternatively referred to herein as a “voucher”) is provided to the gaming patron for use instead of, e.g., tokens, cash, debit cards and credit cards. It is well known to use tokens in gambling casinos. For example, in a typical gaming machine environment, a player inserts coins or tokens and plays the game. When the player is finished and has a winning cash amount, a cash-out button is pressed and the appropriate number of coins or tokens is dispensed in a cash out bin. It is awkward, however, to deal with such tokens and to cash them in before leaving the casino.
The coins or tokens can be replaced with the printed voucher. The printed voucher is produced by a printer disposed in the cabinet of the self-service terminal. The printer requires the attention of staff in order to maintain the printer and refresh the paper supply of the printer.
The gaming machines are provided with a cabinet that houses the printer and other gaming machine components. The contents of the cabinet are considered to be sensitive and susceptible to tampering. As a result, the protection of the components inside the cabinet is of a paramount importance. Many features and procedures are enacted to ensure the protection of the gaming machine and the contents of the cabinet.
As a result, the printer is housed in the cabinet and provided with a high level of protection. Since the printer requires maintenance by staff, the printer must be accessed from the outside of the cabinet. The cabinet is thus, opened exposing components of the gaming machine.
There are two main reasons for opening the cabinet doors to access the printer, one is to replenish an empty stack of fan-fold tickets, or two, to replace the inner chassis of the printer due to a printer problem.
The sliding drawer printer is capable of being slidably translated from a stored position inside the cabinet to a position outside the cabinet, known as being racked out. The printer is more easily accessed by an operator in the racked out position. Components of the printer can be accessed without the need to completely remove the printer from the cabinet, and prolong the downtime of the gaming machine.
The inner printer chassis is still attached by a cable to the outer chassis in the racked out position. The cable transmits both electrical power and communications to the inner printer chassis from the host gaming machine. The transmission of electrical power and communications information is performed either directly or through a communications printed circuit board mounted in the outer chassis. The printer indicators, such as light emitting diodes (LED), still operate in the racked out position. An operator can feed tickets into the printer mechanism in the racked out position.
If there is a problem identified with the printer, (e.g., indication from and ERROR LED) it is often the case that an operator will totally replace the entire inner printer chassis assembly with a replacement inner printer chassis. The process of replacement includes racking out the inner chassis past outer stops. The interconnect cable is unplugged manually by the operator to allow the inner chassis to be completely removed. Installing a new inner printer chassis requires the operator to shut down the gaming machine before reconnecting the interconnect cable. Most often operators do not shut down the gaming machine before connecting the interconnect cable. As a result of reconnecting the interconnect cable of the gaming machine to the inner printer chassis while having full power on the gaming machine failures occur. Failures occur in the interconnect cable, communications components, the communications printed circuit board, and even the main controller printed circuit board.
Thus, when maintenance is required the inherent design of the sliding drawer printer coupled with operator carelessness causes an increased wear on the electrical connectors and electronics and can lead to more frequent system failures.
What is needed in the art is a sliding drawer printer that can be serviced and completely removed from a cabinet while ensuring proper electrical connection with the gaming machine when reinserted.